Our Story

Hi there!

My name is Derek and it would be fair to say that my involvement in Instakilt might more accurately be described as a saga than a story so I will give you the short version.

I was born in Dundee, Scotland way back in 1973 which makes me kind of old but who cares about that?  I was lucky to live in Canada and Australia as a bairn and as an adult I moved back to Canada in 2000. 

I have red hair, a red face and might be one of the most distinctively Scottish looking people you could meet. I am also friendly and approachable and almost every day I meet someone who tells me about their connection to Scotland. I was always fascinated by the interest the worldwide Scottish diaspora has for their homeland. 

 

Around 12 years ago I met the inventor of Instakilt or the Kilt towel. I was instantly fascinated by the product and the potential opportunity. In our first conversation I told him that this is great but that 95% of people with a Scottish background don't go to Scottish stores or Highland Games, they shop in retail stores and online. I also told him you need to make the Kilt towel you sell the best possible quality and brand it so that it would appeal to everyone. 

One thing led to another and I bought the company, something I could never imagined doing as a bairn. Over the last few years there has been some incredible highs (Dragons Den, fantastic Canadian Tire results and making lots of people happy) but there was some lows as well so I took a wee break but always knew that Instakilt would be reborn when the timing is right. Well, the timing is right and I could not be more excited.

Cheers,

Derek